Durban — The Durban High Court is set to hear the trial against an uMlazi 18-year-old man who was 17 when he allegedly stabbed a gay man multiple times.
He was in the company of the man in 2022.
Accused Lwazi Bongokuhle Khumalo allegedly relayed events of the night of the murder to his school principal, aunt, mother, and later a commissioned officer of the SAPS.
Senzokuhle Eugene Mthombeni died at the scene. According to the State, in the accused’s indictment, a post-mortem revealed that Mthombeni died from multiple stab wounds on the neck, chest, and abdomen.
Khumalo goes on trial charged with the murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances later this month.
As per the accused’s indictment, Mthombeni, 35, who had been employed by Toyota, lived in P Section.
On the night of the murder he and the teen were together at Mthombeni’s residence. The duo were in Mthombeni’s room. It is alleged that is where the accused decided to kill Mthombeni.
“He stabbed the deceased repeatedly on the upper body and neck. The deceased died at the scene.”
It is alleged that the accused used force and violence to “induce Mthombeni into submission”, took and stole his laptop (Hewlett-Packard), a Samsung cellphone as well as a Hyundai Accent motor vehicle.
“The accused took the deceased’s property and drove the deceased’s car to B section where he left it. The accused soon after the events of the night of May 20-21, 2022, sold the deceased’s Samsung cellphone and HP laptop computer. The accused gave reports regarding events of the night to, inter alia, his school principal, his aunt/ grandmother, his mother, and a commissioned officer of the SAPS.
“The State alleges that the accused, knowing that the deceased was gay, used this knowledge to his advantage, robbed and murdered the deceased,” reads the accused’s indictment.
In 2022, lesbian Pinky Shongwe, 32, also from uMlazi, was stabbed to death by a man who was making romantic advances which she rejected.
In 2021, Lindo Cele, who was gay, was stabbed 21 times at K section in uMlazi by Mvuyisi Noguda and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in 2022 for the hate crime.
In April this year, the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court sentenced Sandile Wiseman Nikwe to life imprisonment for raping, stabbing, and robbing a lesbian former Banyana Banyana player.
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